Balloon occlusion clip



United States Patent [72] Inventor Robert G. Sellier 900 c Drive NE Adan, Georgia 3,056,408 10/1962 Brown l28/346X 30328 3,253,594 5/1966 Matthews et al... l28/lX [211 App] 720,880 3,402,710 9/1968 Paleschuck l28/l [22] Filed April 12 9 3,495,589 2/1970 Clement 128/79 Continuatiomimpart of sen 683,843 1,679,978 8/1928 Konwiser et al. 128/327 N 7 abandoned Foley 45 patented No 10 1970 2,481,924 9/1949 Hanafin... 128/327 2,533,924 12/1950 Foley 128/346 FOREIGN PATENTS 1 BALLOON OCCPUSIPN CUP 319,261 3/1920 Germany 128/327 6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

, Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle [52] 11.5. C1 128/326, Assistant E i Apley [51 l A61 5?! Attorney-Delio and Montgomery [50] Field of Search 128/326, M

' 6); 3 ABSTRACT: An occlusion clip for occluding a blood vessel or the like, said clip having a supporting member adapted to be [561 References C'ted positioned about the vessel and an inflatable member posi- UNlTED STATES PATENTS tioned within said supporting member, said inflatable member 1,366,121 1/1921 Dorsey l28/327 shaped to surround at least a portion of the vessel- Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,53s,917

- 3O INVENTOR Fiober r 6- SeHfieW 12% Ms WWW being performed.

1 the occlusion clip according to this invention. The clip 1 BALLOON ()CCLUSION cur This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 683,843 filed Nov. l7, I967, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to occlusion clips and more particularly to a new type of balloon occlusion clip for temporarily preventing the flow of blood through the blood vessels in the body. 1

Intracranial surgery has been plagued for manyyears by inability to temporarily close off blood vessels providing arterial blood, without leaving the vessel more susceptible to thrombosis. Intracranial vessels are generally 2 to 4 mm. in diameter, are quite fragile, are easily placed into a spasm and can be injured with only a minute degree of trauma.

Investigators working in this field have found a need to cross-clamp these vessels in order to either anastomose or otherwise alter the configuration of these vessels. The clamps presently utilized are generally metallic in nature, often having teeth and require a fair amount of pressure to completely occlude the vessel. In, so doing, damage to the internal lining of the vessel occurs, as does the inevitable spasm.

To overcome this disadvantage of metallic clips utilized in surgery, a new and improved occlusion clip was necessary. Applicant has provided such new and improved occlusion clip by incorporating an inflatable member as the occluding element. It is quite obvious that applicant's inflatable clip can be applied prior to its need and left in place without injury to the blood vessel. The clip can also be inflated by an assistant working at a distance from the area of surgery.

I The occlusion clip of applicants invention has no sharp teeth or corners to produce subintimal hemorrhage and trauma to the internal lining of the vessel. Further, applicant's invention is useful in other areas of the body and is not limited to the intracranial blood system. For example, it can be used as a temporary occlusion clamp to be applied to the anterior cerebral arteries for use, if desired, while an operation is being performed on an anterior communicating artery aneurysm. In this case, the clip of this invention can be applied proxymal to the anterior communication artery, left in place and inflated by an assistant only during the time of need. The invention herein also finds use when an anteriotomy or embolectomy is performed as well as in cardiac surgery.

It is therefore quite obvious that applicants new and improved occlusion clip will find wide use wherever surgery is Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved occlusion clamp.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved inflatable occlusion clamp.

Still other objects and advantages of this invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties and relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Fora fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference is bad to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. Us a side view of the clip according to this invention, in its uninflated state; 1

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the clip of this invention in its inflated state FIG. 4.is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of an alternate embodiment of the clip according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the clip shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-4 in general, there is illustrated com- The supporting member 11 is preferably of a sterilizable material, such as stainless steel or Teflon, and is shaped such that a hollow tubular mammalian organ, such as a blood vessel, ureter, or a hollow bowel, duct or the like, shown in section at 12, can enter between the two outer ends 11a and lllb, respectively, of the supporting member. The member 11 may be round or any other convenient shape, as a particular case may require, and is constructed with an inner confining track generally shown at 13 with preferably raised flange portions 14 and 15. Member 11 defines a recess therein which receives an inflatable balloon member.

Positioned between the flanges 14 and 15 is a balloon member generally shown at 16, which is supported by the member 11 and confined therein. If desired, the bottom of the balloon member may be glued to the portion 13 of the member 11. The balloon member 16 may be of rubber or any suitable synthetic material adaptable to be inflated.

Connected to the balloon member 16 is a fluid entrance tube shown at 17. The tube 17 and the member 16 are preferably positioned in place by the use of a washer shown at 19 which cooperates with the narrowing provided in the tube 17. At the end of the tube 17 there is provided an airtight coupling 20 which may be connected to a mechanism generally shown at 2I for providing fluid, preferably air, to inflats the balloon member I6.

The apparatus shown at 21 includes a tube 22 and an airtight chamber 23, preferably of a self-sealing material such as rubber or as conventionally found on medical ampules. To force air into the chamber 23, there is provided a hypodermic needle 24 which punctures the chamber 23 and injects a sufficient amount of air to controllably expand the balloon member 16.

It should be understood that any type of controllable pump mechanism would be suitable for supplying fluid such as air to expand the member 16. It should also be understood that any commonly used inert gases are also suitable for inflating the member 16 in operating room conditions.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, the inflatable member 16 is shown in its expanded condition, such that it occludes the vessel shown at 12. Instead of clamping down on or pinching the vessel, as would be customary with the ordinary metal clamp, the vessel takes the form shown in FIG. 4. There is no tearing of the vessel tissues and occlusion is effected by a soft inflatable balloonlike member which does not destroy the outside tissue of the vessel.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, there is shown a modified construction of the clip shown in FIGS. l4. In this configuration, a member shown at 30 has a portion 30a which acts as an anvil. The member 30 may be constructed of metal, plastic (polysulfone or polycarbonate) or the like. Placed at the topmost cup-shaped portion of the member 30 in the cavity defined thereby is an inflatable member or balloon 31 which is connected to a catheter shown at 32. The catheter 32 is used to provide air for inflating the balloon 31. The catheter and the balloon may be in two pieces, such that the balloon is constructed with a resilient opening which seals about the catheter. The catheter is then provided with air passages 33 in the portion thereof which is positioned within the confines of the balloon. At the anvil 30a of the member 30 there is provided padding 34 (Le. foam rubber). Accordingly, when the clip is in use, a vessel 35 will be compressed between the balloon and the padding to close off the flow of fluid through said vessel.

It will thus be seen thatthe objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above article without departing from the spirit and scope of 0 the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the inprisesan external housing or supporting member shownat ll. vention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

lclaim:

1. A surgical occlusion clip for occluding a tubular vessel comprising a rigid substantially C-shaped housing member, said housing member having walls defining a track in said housing member and terminating in spaced apart edges which define an opening into said housing member so that a vessel may be received in said housing member laterally of the length thereof, and inflatable member, said inflatable member being inflatable by a fluid and being carried by said housing member within said track, said inflatable member being arranged to be inflated with a vessel received in said housing member to cause the vessel to become occluded.

2. An occlusion clip according to claim 1, wherein said inflatable member is attached to said housing member.

3. An occlusion clip according to claim 1, wherein said housing member includes spaced apart flange means defining said track, said inflatable member being confined between said flange means.

4. An occlusion clip according to claim 1, in which said inflatable member comprises a member having an opening provided with a resilient seal and in which a fluid-providing member is positioned within said opening and extending into the confines of said inflatable member.

5. A surgical occlusion clip for occluding a tubular vessel comprising a rigid substantially C-shaped housing member, said housing member having walls and terminating in spaced apart edges which define an opening into said housing member so that a vessel may be received in said housing member laterally of the length thereof, said housing member walls further defining a cavity and an anvil portion spaced from said cavity, an inflatable member supported in said cavity in spaced relation to said anvil portion, said inflatable member being inflatable within said cavity by a fluid with a vessel positioned in said housing member between said inflatable member and said anvil to cause the vessel to become oceluded.

6. An occlusion clip according to claim 5, in which a pad is positioned and supported by said anvil portion, said inflatable member and said pad cooperating to occlude a vessel positioned therebetween upon inflation of said inflatable member. 

